Home sweet home

It's good to be home. But it was good to be away too. Just look at this gorgeous girl in the sun.



A quick bout of tickeling before bedtime. The adorable pyjamas were a valentines day gift from grandma Myrna and grandpa Bill in Hawaii (they are absolutey beautiful - thank you!).

Alice was definitely happy to be home. She went from room to room when she woke up this morning (she was asleep when we came back, due to bomb threats (!) our plane was very very late) and touched all of her toys and smiled.

Another day in paradise?

Sleeping beauty, ie Alice in her stroller, Johanna, Karin and Jan with his broken foot in his "stroller".

We have passed yet another day with sunshine, walking along the ocean, lunch outdoors and simply just relaxing. I can't believe we are going home tomorrow - a week has passed oh so quickly!

Alice has caught a slight cold. It doesn't seem to bother her that much, but her voice is coarse as if she'd smoked too many cigarettes and drank too much whiskey... It's kind of cute, but we try to keep her from talking too much. The pacifyer (which she normally only uses when she goes to sleep) is semi-effective, she still manages to let out cries of delight for example when she sees a bird. I wish we could record it and upload it, it's so adorable.

The funny thing about vacation is that in spite of snow and ice and cold and bulky winter clothes, we're still a bit home sick. Our apartment, our bed, Alice misses her friends and "öppis" ie the community daycare centre. Maybe this is even the best part about going away, realising that there is no place like home.

(But give us a week and we'll be oh so sick of the cold again)

The Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo, a place called Loro Parque (http://www.loroparque.com ). It's a gorgeous little Zoo, on the north side of Tenerife. Built by a german man, and very well kept (thanks to german presicion?). Like the lawns were cut with nail sisscors, not a single brown
leaf anywhere. But very beautiful and the animals seemed to be very well taken care of. Above, Alice and Johan are watching the gorillas. Very exciting indeed. We also saw a leopard, and a black panther, chimpanzees, flamingos... There were several hundred parrots of different kinds, a few of them apparently extinct.

But the piece de la resistance was no doubt the shows, parrots, dolphins, sea lions and orcas. Orcas are also known as killer whales (in Swedish späckhuggare), but that sounds so vicious, so we'll settle for calling them orcas. We watched two shows (dolphins and orcas), that went on for apx 25 minutes each. Alice was completely mesmerized throughout the shows! And those of you who know Alice (or any kid of the age one and a half for that matter) realise that this is pretty amazing. I don't think she's been still for that long ever...



The hotel we're staying at is one of those extremely fancy ones, where they clean your room three times a day, leaving a flower and chocolates on the bed every time. They also fold the ends of the toilet paper. We feel like movie stars. Luxury! (Someone said that Jennifer Lopez was staying in this very hotel not long ago). Check it out at http://www.villacortes.com

All in all we are having a great time, sun is shining, food is good, pool is nice. Some bad news, though. Jan broke his leg in two places. Probably it happened in Arlanda, before we even got on the plane. And then he walked on it for two days before he saw a doctor. In the end ha had to go to hospital and had surgery and now he has screws and metal plates in his foot! Now he's back in the hotel, but in a wheel chair and pretty wiped out. Bad luck!

Lots of love
Johan+na and Alice

V A C A T I O N !

Karin, Johanna, Johan and Jan, all seemingly calm and contented, but under the surface lies exitement beyond belief: Tenerife is but hours away. Sunshine as contrast to snow, shorts instead of heavy winter clothes, bathing and swimming instead of work. Almost there now. To the left you can se the crib in which Alice is sleeping. See below.

Sleeping as a baby (they say that once you start walking you are not a baby anymore, I suspect however that to mum and dad, this little girl will always be a baby). The crib attatches to the wall - smart. And for about an hour we had some time to read books. Not that Alice was unhappy or so, she was happy and calm most of the time. Every now and then she was just very bored with flying for almost six hours, and having to sit still for long stretches of time with a seat belt on. But mostly she was just her sunny, happy self.

Alice and granddad Jan posing on our hotel room balcony. Pretty nice view, huh? It's actually better than pretty nice, it's absolutely lovely! We have the pool right below, and the ocean to the right, and the murmur of the ocean waves to lullabye us to sleep!

And of course a visit to the pool! Alice could have stayed there all day! So we've promised her that she can go every day. Tough promise...? Not really. :D

After just a day, we're happier, more relaxed and just slightly more beautiful. We'll get back to you soon and tell you more!

Love from the Hjelmér-Tuulse vacation bunch

Knitted sweater and hat (mommy's been productive)

Believe it or not, besides working like a fool I actually have had time to do some knitting. Most of it while watching teve in the evenings, being too tired to do anything else. Or even pay attention to whats on teve. Knitting is easier.

It turned out pretty nice. Alice loves the hat, she likes to put it on and wear it even when we are indoors. However, it took me a while to make the outfit, so by the time it was done, it was almost to small already. So I have ordered Alice to use the sweater and hat every day from now on until it doesn't fit any more... She says ok.

Right now we are busy packing and trying to find all of our summer clothes (yes, we do actually pack them away every autumn). On Tuesday we are leaving for Tenerife (the Canary Islands) for a week with Alice's grandparents Jan and Karin (Johan's parents). A whole week in the sun! After all of this snow and ice and heavy winter clothes it feels like heaven! Sure, it means Alice won't be able to use her sweater and hat for a whole week, and with the rate that she's growing it might be too small when we get back home. It's a risk we're willing to take.

/Johanna

Family time

Playing in the snow again, with grandma Lena Kristina this time. The snow is just about to melt away, we've had a few days of temperatures above freezing. However it's getting colder again, and there is still some snow and ice left, so we're preparing for some seroius slippery time... Alice is not entirely convinced about the snow sleigh. Is this really supposed to be fun? Oh well, at least grandma is having fun pulling her around.


Going on the swing set, Alice's favourite all time. No matter how cold, how tired, how bored. The swing does the trick every time. So much better than that sleigh. It sure seems to do the trick for grandma as well...


Dad is in Switzerland skiing so Johanna invited all of her family to come and keep her company. Here's uncle Josef, dancing with Alice, who is ever the photo model. Oh, a camera? I better smile and look straight into the lens and look pretty...

Mum is still working her butt off, but only four days a week which is very much better than before. The teaching experience turned out to be a learning experience of a high degree. Oh well, it's getting better each day, and also every day we get a little bit closer to our upcoming holiday in Tenerife with grandma Karin and grandpa Janne! Hooray!